The story of Sudama is touching indeed. He was very poor, and was always dressed in rags. On the insistence of his wife, he trudged from Avanti, near Indore, through the deserts of Rajasthan to Sri Krishna’s palace in Dvarka. The gatekeepers would not allow him in because of his ragged appearance, but when Sudama …
“Now that you’re an adult, you might still feel a pang of guilt when you decline a dinner invitation in favor of a good book. Or maybe you like to eat alone in restaurants and could do without the pitying looks from fellow diners. Or you’re told that you’re “in your head too much,” a …
Status-quo bias – The tendency for people to stay committed to current situations, for fear of changing to the unknown. Status quo bias is also caused by laziness, aversion to complexity, unnatural learning style demands, reading small print, etc. I have been reading this book – Nudge – by Richard H Thaler and Cass R Sunstein. The crux of the …
बन्धुउद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् ।आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मन: ॥ ५ ॥ बन्धुरात्मात्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जित: ।अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्तेतात्मैव शत्रुवत् ॥ ६ ॥ uddhared ātmanātmānaṁnātmānam avasādayetātmaiva hy ātmano bandhurātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ bandhur ātmātmanas tasyayenātmaivātmanā jitaḥanātmanas tu śatrutvevartetātmaiva śatru-vat One must deliver himself with the help of his mind, and not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the …
Rākhī derives from the Sanskrit rakṣikā, a join: rakṣā protection. Raksha Bandhan is observed on the last day of the Hindu lunar calendar month of Shraavana, which typically falls in August. The expression “Raksha Bandhan,” Sanskrit, literally, “the bond of protection, obligation, or care,” is now principally applied to this ritual. Until the mid-20th-century, the …
Asura is typically construed as evil, and is used interchangeably with Danavas, Daityas and Rākshasās, mainly because in English, they are all demons! But all asuras were not considered evil. Here are some of the niruktas (etymologies) of the root word asu. Asu can mean, prana – life breath, life- force; in this sense, asura means ‘one who brings, gives prana’ …
A lot is spoken of the word “Budo”. Budō is a compound of the root bu (武:ぶ), meaning “war” or “martial”; and dō (道:どう; dào in Chinese), meaning “path” or “way. Superficially translated, it is read as “the martial way”. But what is the martial way? Surprisingly, just like karate itself, Budo has it’s roots in ancient India. The “way” has …
Saw a beautiful movie today. Of Bengaluru, my town, in the 60’s and 70’s, the place I grew up in, far removed from the bustling metropolitan jungle that it has become today. Where Indiranagar was a mini forest and Kamannahalli was a halli( village) outside the main town. Where one could bicycle all around town …
Two bits of information that may catch your attention today. One is about Epishura, and the second was about Li Ziqi. Now, chances are that you have not heard of either of them. Nor had I. The first one inhabits Lake Baikal, the largest source of freshwater in the world. It contains 23% of the …
Yog is a way of life, that combines asanas (postures) and pranayama ( breathing), mudras (gestures) and bandhas (body locks)… Breathing is an essential part of Kyokushin, but unexplored due to the constant focus on Kumite. While Kumite is the blood of Kyokushin, nogare breathing is it’s life force. Off late, Kyokushin has been all about …
